Chapter 341: Just Solve This One
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[3.1.08 Changes]
●Completed experiments on 10 types of high-level magic operation; basic check on physical limits done.
●Revised magic concealment function.
Repeated practice to disguise as a stable base state, like an F-Class. Results were achieved.
●(Upcoming) Make currently usable techniques more efficient. It’s okay if the power decreases, just reduce the burden.
(Upcoming 2) Complete lung repair. Expected to increase usable magic range.
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Once again greeted by a bright morning.
“Ugh, what’s up with this? With the window open, it’s almost cold now.”
The sunlight pouring in seemed especially clear today.
While an alien was groaning in the hospital room, South Korea had fully embraced the autumn season.
Indeed…
‘What perfect weather for retirement!’
Well, that’s how it was.
In the early days after landing on Earth, he had gone through all sorts of hardships to regain his strength and earn money.
But now, Gi-ryeo had obtained everything he desired.
So he decided not to be greedy and to stop at a reasonable point.
Having received a compensation for a house from the third S-Class, and still having some money left in the bank.
What better state could there be to withdraw from social activities?
‘With the money I have now, I could live as a bum for decades~!’
Moreover, thinking back, the huge upheaval caused by the tumor issue was an unexpected stroke of luck from his perspective.
Now, genuine retirement was right around the corner.
‘Now that I’m an SS-Class Hunter, it’s not… not… not okay if Jeong Ha-seong gets up and takes action, but still, let’s try to persuade them to cancel the promise.’
It felt a bit off to end things abruptly with an Earthling he had some affection for.
Thus, a certain alien, since the information had already been leaked, planned to just say he was retiring from hunting due to health issues brought on by a disease.
‘If I retire without any friction, there’s no need to hide my identity. That means I can continue living here.’
If the plan succeeds, a dream-like life will continue.
‘Seoul is a great city.’
Gi-ryeo gave a generous evaluation of one place on Earth and continued to think.
‘At first, I thought I had chosen the wrong spot to restart, but the food and security are decent enough…’
However, unfortunately, there was one thing he did not know.
‘Great. Now that I’ve made my decision, I should determine my ultimate residence based on buildings in this city.’
In fact, there was a reason the alien had to save up.
‘What budget should I set? Hmmm. I should be here for at least 20 years, so I might as well get something expensive without cutting costs, right? That makes sense.’
For reference, the amount he needed to save was 40 billion.
‘I want to make at least a small room a safe zone. So I can allocate about 70% for the house and 20% for the Infinite Power Core.’
That’s not acceptable.
‘And with about 10% of the savings, I should indulge in experiences I’ve always wanted to have on Earth. Ultimately, I’ll leave around 5 billion for now to live frugally.’
Naturally, even this was not acceptable.
‘Perfect. Average Earthlings struggle to make 1 billion in a lifetime. This should be sufficient.’
But the thing is, he didn’t know that.
As the economic disaster loomed for the alien creature, September approached ever closer.
The deceptive alien, who had hidden the truth time and again, began his daily life unaware of the impending future.
“Alright. The plan is all set.”
Of course.
While the atmosphere was peaceful, that didn’t mean he had nothing to worry about.
He had already asked Kang Chang-ho to set up an appointment.
Thus, the schedule for purchasing a house and such would be delayed.
‘So, should I start preparing for departure slowly now?’
The group that had attempted to cause a dungeon terror in the capital of this country.
How they gathered there and predicted the existence of the monster known as [Sunflower].
It was high time he figured out the details.
*
【#New chat】
[靑春 : …….]
[P : …….]
[靑春 : Friend. Can I say something first?]
[P : Please do.]
[靑春 : We totally messed up, didn’t we?]
This was an online chat that had taken place once.
When the chat partner with the nickname Cheongchun uploaded a line so rough it got filtered for profanity.
Someone staring at the monitor’s OLED panel moved their hands.
“…….”
However, that individual could not ultimately type on the keyboard.
According to that person, it was indeed correct to say they were truly ed up.
But now, a question arose: how on Earth did the incident in Korea turn out that way?
‘This operation involved two S-Class psychics, including Enzo.’
Enzo Chiano.
As known by everyone, that awakened one was a highly competent ability user.
The fact that he was an alcoholic didn’t seem to detract from his strength.
Moreover, unlike other soldiers, he was a key member of the organization, having similar contract conditions with the upper management he chatted with.
At least, he had always believed in his capability.
‘In an international tournament with practically no support, he even defeated Zhu Han back home.’
Just their loss in Team Enzo’s battle had caused a significant disruption in their plans.
Not merely a disruption.
Perhaps the carefully constructed cartel might even fall apart entirely.
‘I had expected at least to bring back the [Book of Extermination].’
If that’s the case, then back to the same question.
What could have caused an S-Class Hunter with the [Book of Extermination] to lose?
South Korea.
Of course, that nation had the famous Eastern figure Jeong Ha-seong.
Moreover, Seo Esther was capable enough to stand strong against the hunters of the world’s powerhouses.
Most importantly, that woman was highly regarded for wielding a rare skill called a curse.
However.
‘This isn’t how it was planned.’
With the top one or two hunters in Korea, logically, wasn’t the outcome pretty predictable?
Above all, there was way too much data exposed to the world. They had been able to observe Jeong Ha-seong and Seo Esther’s strength well before this.
And with that data, they neatly blocked any variables that would mess up the 100% winrate they had calculated.
‘Just luring that hunter overseas cost a ton.’
Kang Chang-ho.
Due to the suspicious character using that name within South Korean hunting circles.
[靑春 : OMG 🙁 ]
The third S-Class of Korea, Kang Chang-ho, still had his awakening period unclear even at this moment.
On top of that, he was famous for hoarding illegal items in various underground markets during his usual exploits. So, they had been the first to exclude that hunter from the scene, never knowing what means he might bring.
Yet, despite all this effort, the actual outcome they faced was a total disaster.
[靑春 : My grandmother’s saying that misfortune doesn’t come alone was spot on.]
An unwinnable battle ended in a nightmare.
For now, the fact that some kind of organization faced a crisis for survival remained unchanged.
However.
The Spectrum Guild in America.
And the Japan Cheongchun Guild, known for their majority foreign funding.
Unlike the examples above, the only power capable of expressing themselves with an abbreviation had ample room to rise again.
[靑春 : The legendary item exposed to Korea should be taken on by Spectrum as per the contract. But the future is the real issue.]
So, to avoid repeating the same mistake, shouldn’t they learn something from this defeat, even if it’s a bit stinging?
With that chain of thought, Cheongchun said.
[靑春 : By the way, is it really true what those South Korean kids say? That this was all done by 9th place (*Kim Gi-ryeo) all by himself?]
[靑春 : An ability user defeating three alone at the same level? That’s cheating~! :-(]
Thus, this figure related to the Cheongchun Guild voiced their continuous doubts.
Then, a new line of text appeared on the luminous diode panel.
The unidentified Earthling, who had been resting their chin on their hand in front of the screen, moved to watch the changes on the computer.
They typed one word on the keyboard.
[P : No, it’s not.]
Not that, huh.
That meant Kim Gi-ryeo wasn’t the one who flipped the table?
But to Cheongchun’s side, the response that just came was strange.
Their chat partner had never been to Seoul, not once during the incident or the past.
In such a situation, a nearly certain chat flow raised suspicions.
[靑春 : Really?]
[P : It seems that country doesn’t intend to reveal the events that unfolded within the dungeon in their entirety. According to the info I retrieved, it’s hard to say that Kim Gi-ryeo was the one who killed Enzo.]
[靑春 : What kind of intel are you basing this on?]
Yet, P showed no sign of being flustered.
[P : It’s not exactly classified intel. Just a method I always use.]
Instinct. Intuition.
Living by believing such things can be quite tough in this world.
P was presenting their claims with clear reasoning.
Additionally, the information that had been conveyed to him was straightforward.
[P : The micro-analyzer I sent to Enzo Chiano. It linked data automatically once it made it outside the dungeon.]
Rounding off the decimals, a figure of about 33.
Though smaller than expected, Enzo had diligently carried out his investigations within the dungeon.
If memory serves, it seemed he had that intention strongly too.
‘He wanted to figure out who killed Brooklyn Morgan, the colleague he worked with.’
Space manipulation/healing.
The first Beast was a monster wielding vengeful attributes of equal strength, and to deal with such an ability user usually wouldn’t be easy.
Enzo Chiano wanted to uncover the truth behind the [Mimic City] gate incident.
Hence, he measured someone with equipment far beyond the cheap analyzers floating in the market.
‘I heard they wanted to know who was stronger between Jeong Ha-seong and Kim Gi-ryeo. To strip away all sorts of distortion and find the real values.’
Yet the number that returned in this process was shocking.
About 33, right?
P’s awakening level exam device reported this.
Not even S-Class.
Not even A-Class.
To find accurately which class it was, you would need to go down quite a few stairs to land on Kim Gi-ryeo’s awakening level.
‘33Aw means about F-Class? With such a low number, it won’t even be clear what the exact class is.’
However, in fact, the only judgment the Earthling could make during such a situation was one.
‘Didn’t expect there’d be a cheating hunter in that country.’
On this planet.
99.9% of humans lived with their own ranks.
Of course, the notion of a second awakening did not exist in their heads.
Excluding rare instances such as Choi Jin or the effects of the [Dragon’s Eye] item, there was generally no increase in human magical capacity.
Even if there were reinforcement methods yet to be discovered, it’d be hard to imagine that they would turn a useless bum into the strongest S-Class.
‘Hmmm.’
Moreover, that wasn’t the end of the evidence.
In their chatroom, members related to the Spectrum Guild had been present for a long time.
In fact, the theory of Kim Gi-ryeo being a scammer, which began with Brooklyn Morgan’s doubts, had already reached everyone there.
So.
‘Thinking back, the fact that he fought Kang Ho Hunter and swept away the Fake Beast all happened where no one could see.’
After integrating all the information, P reached a conclusion.
‘Anyway, however I think about it, Kim Gi-ryeo seems to be a scammer. Since the one who forged the rank has been identified, the figure who became a variable naturally comes to light. Was Jeong Ha-seong, or rather, the [Sword of Sunset] he carries that posed the issue?’
At first glance, that didn’t seem like a serious absurdity.
The sites where the first and second Beasts had been killed all had Jeong Ha-seong Hunter present.
In fact, having once possessed it made them more aware of the legendary item’s power.
A legendary-grade artifact, if used properly, could indeed trigger natural disasters.
However, if the number one ranked hunter in South Korea secretly kept their true means to themselves.
And if other S-Class hunters in the country wanted to hide this fact for reasons concerning national power.
Everything falls into place like cogs in a machine.
‘The sword of the sun, but its power is based on water attributes. How interesting.’
They continued to build plausible inferences based on the information they obtained.
[P : So, what I’m telling you now is that Kim Gi-ryeo from Korea is an identity-forged individual with an awakening level of around 33. So for now, it’s better not to worry about him. Of course, the fact that the stripped value was F-Class is astonishing, but since the legendary rank got disrupted, it’s much more economical to closely watch the other S-Class hunters.]
It was just that being a little late was the issue. The statements made were indeed correct.
